Shri Mahavira Puja. Barcelona (Spain), 17 June 1990.
Today we are going to do the puja of Mahavira and we never had this puja before. The reason for this was that Mahavira’s life was an ascetic’s life, just like Buddha: even more than Buddha it would be. Because at the time when these two were born, the Brahminism of the Hinduism had taken a very funny form. People had become extremely ritualistic and they were worshipping all kinds of stones and all kinds of things instead of worshipping only the swayambhu.
Shri Mataji: Who is that fellow eating food at the time [of puja]? There is a gentleman who is eating food at the time of this thing, please tell him.
The ascetic life of Mahavira was of a very, very extreme nature. He was the one who was born in a clan of warriors, kshatriyas, and then He was also married. Also He had a daughter and then He decided — because He knew He had to do the work of the Divine — He decided to take a sanyasa. So He took the permission of His brother, because His parents were dead. He was a king, so He gave up all His material wealth, everything, and He became a complete sanyasi. And He left His family, left His house, everything, behind and went alone with a little bowl for begging alms. And the people who joined Him were very few and He asked them that, “You have to also become ascetics, munis.”
He was a reincarnation of Saint Michael and He resides on the Left Side, on the Ida Nadi, and He looks after the whole of it, right from Mooladhara onwards up to the Sahastrara. So Saint Michael was born as Mahavira, meaning “The Greatest Warrior”. But when He was born, the whole place got a lot of prosperity, that’s why He was called as Vardhaman, to begin with.
But His asceticism was there because of the Brahminism that was so prevalent in those days, and people were absolutely drowned into it.
After Shri Krishna, these two persons, Buddha and Mahavira, both of them incarnated in India. As you know, their history is very far out because they were the children of Rama and they were two twins, called as Luv and Kush. So Rama led a life of a very great king, benevolent king, and of lots of limitations: Maryada Purushottama. Because of that, people became extremely serious and also very closed — because of Rama’s following. Of course, after every incarnation, as they do not get their Realisation, they get deviated and start going to the extremes of everything. So they went to the extremes and became very, very much, sort of, quiet people, wouldn’t talk to anyone and would be very formal people, because that was the life Rama had to lead. And because Rama left His wife, many people at that time felt that wife is not to be paid so much attention to.
So Shri Krishna came. Actually Rama took birth as Shri Krishna to overcome these conditionings. And He said, “All this is leela. This is all a play.” And that it is a play and you should have pure heart and you can play about. As long as you have pure character, nothing can go wrong if you mix up with people freely.
So, after Shri Krishna people started becoming very licentious and permissive and they created poems and things of Krishna’s love stories, which was all false. Because He lived with Radha at the age of five or six years, and in the Gokul. So all these false stories about Him were used for the licentiousness of the people.
So now, the situation was such, that the whole place was getting completely drowned into immorality. The priests, the Brahmins themselves, had become extremely immoral and were indulging into all kinds of corrupt practices. Not only that but they took to tantrik manifestations of using spirits and things like that, and became very self-indulgent. At that time Buddha, Lord Buddha and Mahavira were born to decondition people from this kind of an extreme behaviour. Because whatever the incarnations tried people always went to the extremes.
So, they found out that people were very much indulgent in killing animals and eating flesh all the time and if you eat too much of flesh and all that you become a right sided personality and so then you become very aggressive and start killing others. Moreover the people who were very much attached to their family or to their children and all that, would not do the work of the Divine and it was a very intensive work which He had to do. So He made very strict rules as Moses did. He said that nobody should kill any animal and eat it, first of all. Those who are becoming the munis or the bikshus should not even go on any bullock cart; should walk bare feet; should not even wear shoes. They should shave their head completely; should have only three changes, three dresses, with them, of a big tunic-like thing. Whether it is sun or rain they should not use any umbrellas. They should eat before six o’clock; before the sun sets. They should sleep only for five hours and all the time meditate and ascend and then try to do the work of the Divine. Then only they can do the work of the Divine. After they get their Realisation that, He called as kevalagyan (meaning) only the knowledge, only knowledge — means pure knowledge.
They will develop samyak darshan, means ‘integrated personality’ and all the collective consciousness. He talked of all, all these things.
But as He belonged to the Left Side, He has described hell very clearly. Fundamentally, basically there are fourteen hells according to Him and it’s horrible to read all that, what He has described, about hell. Because He wanted to tell people that, “If you do all these wrong things you will go to hell.” And He talked about, not about God with form, but formless God, because He didn’t want people to again start ritualism but get right to the position where they could get their Self-realisation to cleanse themselves.
So you can imagine how difficult, in those days of Mahavira, it was, even to be one of the candidates for Self-realisation. It’s frightening for you! That’s why I never had this puja. Because to do all these things first of all and to become absolutely pure, then only He would give Realisation.
I wonder how many got Realisation!
But the way He made rules for people was so strict. Nobody would have followed Him, but He told them about the hell in which they will go if they don’t follow. So they were so frightened that they joined Him and started following Jainism. ‘Jain’ means ‘the one who has known, who is enlightened — ‘gyan’. It’s the, the same word is ‘gnya' means ‘to know’. ‘Ja’ – it means ‘to know.’ Just like the Jews: is the same word is the ‘Jew’ — means also ‘the one who knows’.
Moses also did the same. He didn’t say that you should not eat meat, but He said that if anybody is found with another woman he should be killed. The Muslims, they follow Sharia [which] is made by Moses, for the Jews, because they had become so self-indulgent. The Sharia that is followed by Muslims is made by Moses for the Jews because when He brought those ten commandments He found the Jews were indulging into all kinds of nonsensical things. But Jews very nicely put it on the shelf and the Muslims took to it.
So now this Mahavira style went to the extreme as usual. Even Lord Buddha’s — same thing.
Mahavira was the one who said that you should not kill any animal. So now in India we have people who are absolutely abstaining from even killing bugs, and killing even mosquitoes. How far human beings can go to stupidity can be seen from this.
Nowadays there’s a custom, very common in India, that they get hold of a Brahmin, put him in a hut and put all the bugs inside, and when these bugs have got completely fed up with the drinking of the blood of this Brahmin they just drop out. Then this Brahmin is paid a big amount by the Jains who have lots of money. They are vegetarians to such an extent that they don’t want to go to the bathroom, but they’ll go on some sort of an open space so that no animal should die — such ridiculous things they do. And in doing all this abstinence and all that, they are extremely money-oriented. Jains are just like Jews, in India. Jains and Jews are the same in their money-orientation. So the Jains won’t kill even a bug or a mosquito, but they don’t mind harassing a man up to his death for their two rupees.
So this extreme temperament is seen in every religion, and that comes because human beings start moving like a pendulum from one end to another. An incarnation comes in, tries to bring them in the centre, but again they start moving on the other side. They cannot remain in the centre, this is the problem of the human beings. And this is why all religions look so funny. When you see the way the Jains are, I mean, you are surprised and you can’t believe how stupid they are — educated people, doctors. But they never know that, they never understand that they are stupid.
So this is the story of Mahavira where He has tried to bring in a kind...
Linda will you please sit down. Who is that lady? Don’t move out. You shouldn’t get up and walk when I am talking. All right? Tell her. They are eating, they are walking about, will you please tell the Spanish to behave themselves.
When I started Sahaja Yoga, if I had started like Mahavira, how many would have joined me? Even when we have raised the Kundalini, you have got your Realisation, there is not much of detachment. Sanyasi meant that he had nothing to do with his wife, nothing to do with his children, nothing to do with his family or house or anything, possessions — no possessions. And they were given such a little to eat without any...just boiled food, just boiled and such strict order.
But in Sahaja Yoga I have, first of all, raised your Kundalini without telling you any ritual, any what you can call strictness or anything about it: just, whatever you are, all right, get your Realisation. And I thought that by raising the Kundalini, by Self-realisation — I need not tell them about hell — only by that, they will become quite detached and wise. But even now, what you find is that there are people who get married in Sahaja Yoga and just get lost. Either the wife dominates or the husband dominates or both of them get completely lost. Normally in the Western countries as soon as they get married first, second day they start quarrelling. And within one week they start talking about divorce. But in Sahaj Yoga when they get married they just get attached to each other like glues! Then there is no other interest left all the time thinking of wife, wife, wife or husband, husband, husband. Some want to go for honeymoon, someone to do it in a very big way with a reception and things.
The importance is given so much, that it is unbelievable that whatever things we have left to come to Sahaja Yoga have become multifold. And this marriage system that we have started in India is becoming a headache to me now. Either they fight as usual and divorce or they get glued together — there’s nothing in between. They don’t understand that they have married for Sahaj Yoga and they have to use marriage for Sahaj Yog only.
But this attitude of Sahaja yogis is very surprising because I always felt [that] after Self-realisation they will be automatically sanyasis from within; they will themselves be like Mahavira’s disciples. But what I find is that, still, they are always falling back into the same ocean from which they have come onto the boat!
For example now, somebody was fond of seeing films or, say, football — of all the things football! So they are still busy with football, it’s become a craze with football! Or a picnic or a holiday or a sea resort. After Realisation how can you enjoy these things so much? That means you have not touched that depth within you yet. Your depth of joy you have not yet touched, still you have to touch it. Once you have touched that you really don’t care for anything, you just don’t bother for anything. You are so self-contented [that] you just enjoy your Self.
But I do not know if I should tell you about hell and frighten you, or I should put restrictions on you. But this is the one, Mahavira’s puja, I have been avoiding, so far.
Even the ladies had to take out all their hair, and wear only one white sari and one blouse, that’s all — no shoes! And also had to walk, never get into a bullock cart, leave alone cars. They had to get up at four o’clock, have their food till six only and then sleep off. There is forty days purgation when you have to only live on water — only water!
Now in Sahaja Yoga it’s the other way round — it’s all enjoyment. You enjoy everything: you enjoy each other’s company, you enjoy music. There’s all enjoyment for you. But without touching your inner enjoyment you cannot ascend. You must touch your inner enjoyment and then enjoy everything else.
And any hard word said, even one word said hard, they had to repent and go on fast for days together for saying one harsh word.
But here people go, suddenly I find they are walking nicely and suddenly they get onto the horse of ego and start jumping on others. The whole scene is so jocular, I tell you, that I just watch: suddenly what was he? He was a nice fellow walking, just now. Suddenly what has happened to him? Suddenly he’s started behaving like this!
I never wanted to frighten you about the hell but there is hell, I must say. And so one has to go deeper into your own enjoyment so that there is complete contentment.
So the things that are said about Mahavira, taken to the extreme: that one day He was meditating and He had only one piece of cloth on Him wrapped with a dhoti and He had covered Himself up with one piece of cloth. So when He was coming out of His meditation His cloth got entangled with some bush, so He had to take off half of it. Then Krishna came to tease Him as a beggar. And He said, “You are a king and You can always get some cloth but I am shivering, so why don’t You give me this piece of cloth that You have.”
So He gave Him His cloth and covered Himself with some leaves and went into His palace and changed Himself. Into His house and changed His clothes. So these horrible Jains make His complete nude photographs so huge — a hundred and fifty feet height — nude absolutely nude. Into details they work it out, stupid things.
And there are followers of His, so-called, He never had such followers but they call themselves as ‘Digambaras’, means they do not have cloth, but their cloth is all the directions – Digambara. ‘Directions’ are their cloth! And they walk on the streets, walk everywhere in the villages, absolutely nude. I mean horrible things people do in the name of Mahavira.
Now as you have got Realisation I am sure you won’t go to that extreme! But still you must learn to have self-discipline. If you have no self-discipline you cannot jump into that depth where there’s complete kevalgyan — means absolute knowledge, absolute love and absolute joy. So this self-disciplining is very important. Of course, you need not go to the Mahavira’s extent now, because luckily I have given you Realisation, but still — do not go back to things which you have left.
As men also do stupid things also women do it in Sahaja Yoga, which surprisingly people told me, that they carry so many make-ups with them to India! What is the use? I just don’t understand. I mean for Indians it is useless and it is absolutely useless for you also. You are saints! There’s no need to load yourselves with so many things unnecessarily.
So if you again indulge into the same nonsense that you have been doing: going to the hairdresser or looking funny in the hair, all sorts of things if you do, then what’s the use of coming to Sahaja Yoga? Or following any fashion and these things. If you are to do the same thing again and again it is better you don’t come to Sahaja Yoga. That’s all I can say. I cannot say like Mahavira that you shave your hair, or you wear just a white sari, but I can only say that — try to detach yourself.
I was sure with my experiment that people, when they get Realisation, gradually they’ll get detached. And you all have to co-operate with me to see where is your attention. What are we doing the whole day? What have we done for Sahaj Yoga? How many people we have given Realisation? Everything seems to be important but Sahaj Yog. But Mahavira’s people did not do any jobs, nothing: they had to live in jungles, they had to beg for their food, and that’s how this Jainism has spread. But what sort of a Jainism it is I have told you already!
So unless and until you touch your depth you’ll become like any other religion, because you won’t be actually Sahaj Yogis, just nominal.
So we have to work in such a manner that we understand ourselves and we understand our attention and we try to ascend. I don’t have to tell you. You, yourself, have to work it out in such a manner that you touch your depth and you become an ascetic within yourself. Then only you will be really doing the Divine work properly with proper understanding.
Sahaja Yoga is the integration of all these great prophets and these incarnations.
So I have to tell you that, whatever were your conditionings and all that, to get rid of them you must get out of this ocean of illusion. So this is the only thing I can just now say about Mahavira. But lots can be said because He deals with the past. All His past lives and everything are described. But that is not so important, what is important is what is today, the present.
I hope my lecture goes into your head and settles into your heart and you understand what you have to do about yourself, about your ascent. You have to be genuine people, then only it is going to show results in the whole world.
I hope you will pass this tape to all the people so they should know why I didn’t have Mahavira’s puja all these years!
May God bless you all.